NORTH AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL MARKET INTEGRATION AND ITS IMPACT ON THE FOOD AND FIBER SYSTEM

Economic change and market dynamics have fundamentally altered the structure and performance of agricultural markets in the United States, Canada, and Mexico within the last 25 years. Many factors have helped shape the current North American food and fiber system, including technological change, domestic farm policies, international trade agreements, and the economic forces of supply and demand. Ratification of NAFTA, for example, helped integrate the North American market, sparking a surge in trade and investment among the United States, Canada, and Mexico. In recent years, efforts to further integrate the continental market seem to have slowed. Broadening the scope of NAFTA to include institutional reforms that lead to a more unified system of commercial law, the establishment of common antitrust and regulatory procedures, harmonization of product standards, and increased coordination of domestic farm, market, and macroeconomic policies would deepen market integration and enhance market efficiency and growth within North America.agriculture, market integration, market segmentation, law of one price, price transmission, elasticities, exchange-rate pass-through, market efficiency, bilateral trade intensity, regional trade agreements, NAFTA, CUSTA, trade policy, WTO, GATT, Industrial Organization, International Relations/Trade, Marketing,

Economic costs and payoffs of bilateral/regional trade agreements

The rapid increase in the number of bilateral and regional free-trade agreements since 1995 is a striking development. The proliferation of these agreements has raised questions among academicians and policymakers about whether they have, in fact, opened markets, created trade, promoted economic growth, and/or distorted trade. This study uses panel data from the 1975-2005 period and the gravity framework to identify the influence of bilateral/regional free-trade agreements on bilateral trade in merchandise, agriculture, and clothing sectors. A benchmark, Heckman sample-selection, and two generalized models, one of which accounts for reciprocal-free-trade-agreement phase-in effects, are used to gauge the impact on partner trade of mutual as well as asymmetric RTA membership.trade policy, bilateral, regional, missing trade, gravity models, reciprocal trade agreements, Agricultural and Food Policy,

Reciprocal Trade Agreements: Impacts on Bilateral Trade Expansion and Contraction in the World Agricultural Marketplace

The rapid increase in the number of bilateral and regional free-trade agreements since 1995 is a striking development. The proliferation of these agreements has raised questions about whether they have, in fact, opened markets, created trade, promoted economic growth, and/or distorted trade. This study uses panel data from 1975 to 2005 and a gravity framework model to identify the influence of reciprocal trade agreements (RTAs) on bilateral trade in the world agricultural marketplace. A benchmark, Heckman sample-selection and two generalized models, one of which accounts for RTA phase-in effects, are used to gauge the impact on partner trade of mutual as well as asymmetric RTA membership. Empirical results show that RTAs increase agricultural trade between member countries but decrease trade between member and nonmember countries. Interestingly, RTAs were found to be particularly effective at expanding agricultural trade and opening markets in developing countries when developing- country trading partners are part of the same agreement.trade policy, reciprocal trade agreements, bilateral, regional, missing trade, gravity models, Agricultural and Food Policy, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

THE NEW WAVE OF REGIONALISM: DOES OUTSIDER/INSIDER STATUS AFFECT THE COMPETITIVENESS OF U.S. AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS?

The degree to which countries are pursuing regional trade agreements (RTAs) has been nothing short of extraordinary. The topic of regional integration is “breeding concern” among academics and policymakers as to the intra- and extra-regional effects of these agreements. This study constructs and uses an updated database of agricultural trade flows from 1992-2008 to shed light on the degree to which insider and outsiders status affects U.S. agricultural exporters and its competing suppliers. Regarding outsider status, we modify the existing approach by incorporating region-specific extra-bloc trade flow variables to examine the degree to which RTAs divert trade from specific regions of the world. The results are quite illuminating. While RTAs may not be trade diverting on net, all RTAs considered exhibit trade diversion with respect to at least some regions. The results have important policy implications for nations that are not actively participating in the latest wave of regionalism.International Relations/Trade,

Bilateral Protection and Other Determinants of Trade: A Gravity Model Approach

Replaced with revised version of paper 10/03/07.International Relations/Trade,

Evaluating Cycling Routes in a Bicycle Simulator

Although cycling becomes more and more popular, many people are still deterred from cycling by various aspects including a lack of perceived safety [1 ]. To o:ffer preferable infrastructure and, hence, to better promote cycling. it is therefore crucial to examine how cyclists evahmte their routes, and to figure out what makes an infrastructure seem unsafe or unattractive. Some studies have already identified i.mportant route criteria 1ike safety or comfort, and have connected them to certain route attributes. High traffic volumes and cycling on no or poor cycling facilities are experienced as stressful by cyclists [2], [3], and they try to avoid these routes in order to reduce possible interactions with motor vehicles [4]. In contrast, a separated cycling facility, low speed, and low traflic volumes are evaluated as safe and stress-ftee [2], [5]. Furthennore, cyclists prefer oomfortable routes, that is, routes with low gradient and few stops and traffic lights as weil as attractive routes with a green and pleasant su:rrounding [6], [7]. Most ofthe studies investigated those criteria deductively, that is, the researchers analyzed the results theorydriven and in terms of predetermined criteria. In a previous study, we examined them in an inductive and qualitative approach that allowed us to collect criteria with the participants' individual wording and content [8]. We found that cyclists evaluate their route attributes in terms of Mental Comfort, possible interactions with other road users, Physical Comfort, the Base of Use of the infrastructure, and the pleasanlness of the surrounding. Safety and stress were found to be sub-aspects of Mental Comfort, whereas Interaction was associated with attention and concentration due to other road users. The term comfort, however, was mentioned by participants only in terms of physical comfort. The aim of the present study is to validate these evaluation criteria found in our previous study, and to connect them to certain route attributes using the experimental approach of a bicycle simulator in combination with qualitative surveys

NORTH AMERICAN INTEGRATION IN AGRICULTURE: A SURVEY PAPER

This paper surveys the economic literature about North American integration in the agri-food sector. The purpose of this survey is two-fold: it summarizes the lessons learned, and it identifies areas where further research could provide valuable input into policy discussions. As the integration of North American agriculture progresses, the range of agri-food policies with strictly domestic effects becomes increasingly narrow. Thus, policymakers in North America need to consider the effects that their decisions will have on other NAFTA countries, as well as the impact that decisions by other NAFTA governments will have at home. The paper is organized as follows. Section 2 identifies the major factors contributing to integration and comments on their relative importance. Section 3 summarizes research into the indicators of integration. These studies focus on price co-movements and trade flow data. Section 4 outlines the state of current knowledge regarding foreign direct investment in the agri-food sector, while Section 5 assesses the impact of integration on the structure and performance of the sector. Section 6 discusses opportunities for further integration in the sector, and Section 7 concludes the paper. Throughout the paper, gaps in the knowledge base are highlighted, along with suggested areas for further research.Industrial Organization,

Global Growth, Macroeconomic Change, and U.S. Agricultural Trade

After a decade of uneven export growth and rapidly growing imports, U.S. agriculture has begun to reassert its position in global trade markets. Rising exports and signs of moderating demand for imports mark a departure from previous trends. This report places past trends and emerging developments in perspective by spotlighting the role of two specific factors that help steer U.S. agricultural trade patterns: global growth and shifts in foreign economic activity that affect U.S. exports, and macroeconomic factors underlying the growth of U.S. imports. Consistent with actual changes in the level and destination of U.S. exports, model simulations corroborate the contention that renewed export growth can be sustained by expanding incomes and growing food import demand in emerging economies. In contrast, the rapid growth of U.S. agricultural imports appears less related to domestic income growth than to changing consumer preferences and other, perhaps less sustainable, macroeconomic conditions that fostered the growth of U.S. current account deficits.agricultural trade, trade balance, income growth, economic development, population, macroeconomics, exchange rates, current account, growth projections., Agricultural and Food Policy, Agricultural Finance, International Development, International Relations/Trade,

MARKET ACCESS FOR HIGH-VALUE FOODS

Market access remains a major impediment for expansion of global trade in high-value foods, particularly processed foods. Countries use tariffs and other measures that effectively stimulate imports of relatively unprocessed agricultural commodities at the expense of processed products. Tariff escalation, in which tariffs rise with the level of processing, discourages trade in high-value foods, and trade remedy measures, such as antidumping duties, are concentrated among high-value products. Globalization has provided countries with easier access to capital and technology needed to produce processed food, further affecting trade patterns and markets for high-value foods. A uniform cut in tariffs increases trade in high-value foods more than trade in raw agricultural commodities and improves real wages in developing and developed countries.Food trade, processed food, high-value foods, tariff, tariff escalation, trade remedy measures, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, safeguard measures, revealed comparative advantage, trade complementarities, International Relations/Trade,